Me thinks that involvement in financial markets has changed forever due to the internet.

Why...

The USA markets are a huge attraction for foreign daytraders, as they want liquidity, no other STOCK markets in the world have liquidity like USA stocks (not counting forex). Sure levels may drop, but not to levels seen before as trading access to more population has changed for the better, more traders more liquidity.

Me thinks that involvement in financial markets has changed forever due to the internet.

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I think you're right. It wasn't that many years ago when any trade meant a call to your broker and a commission in the hundreds (!) of dollars for a single trip. Investment, trading and stock ownership are all far higher now because of easy access. So historical comparisons of market action pre-1990 are probably not very valid.

I think you're right. It wasn't that many years ago when any trade meant a call to your broker and a commission in the hundreds (!) of dollars for a single trip. Investment, trading and stock ownership are all far higher now because of easy access. So historical comparisons of market action pre-1990 are probably not very valid.

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I hope you're kidding. I mean you must really have a short memory. The Naz just bottomed out of a 3 year bear that shaved 80% of the index. There is no correlation between liquidity and volatility. As "miraculous" as the internet is, it's no more of a breakthrough in terms of offering accessibility to investors than the telegraph or telephone were.